08/03/2026
Arrowās Story ā„ļø
Arrow came to us with a progressively growing mass in his mouth. Given its size and location, we discussed surgical removal, along with staging tests beforehand to determine whether the mass had spread.
With no time to waste, Arrow underwent chest X-rays and lymph node aspirates. We were relieved to find no evidence of obvious spread, allowing us to move forward with surgery.
Arrow underwent a partial rostral mandibulectomy to remove the mass. At the time of surgery, we didnāt yet have a definitive diagnosis, but Dr. Ian carefully planned the procedure and took the widest margins possible to give Arrow the best chance of success.
When the biopsy results came back, they confirmed the mass was an osteosarcoma (bone cancer). This is an uncommon location for this type of tumor, so the diagnosis was unexpected. The silver liningāand the best news we could have hoped forāwas that all of the surgical margins were completely clear of tumor cells, meaning the cancer had been fully removed.
Just a few weeks after surgery, Arrow is back to living his very best life. You can hardly tell heās missing part of his jaw, and most importantly, heās comfortable, happy, and enjoying every day. Weāre so thrilled with his recovery and grateful to have been part of his journey. š
